No. 11 Mizzou wrestling welcomed No. 10 Illinois to the Hearnes Center for its first one-on-one dual event of the season. This came after the Tigers lost to the Fighting Illini 28-16 in the seventh-place match at the National Duals Invitational.
In this edition against Illinois, the dual came down to the heavyweights after great efforts from the 184lbs and 197lbs classes for Mizzou. The Tigers ultimately fell 21-17, but plenty of positives were taken away from several weight classes.
All rankings are
according to InterMat.
125
No. 25 Mack Mauger defeated No. 22 Spencer Moore by a 5-2 decision. Overtime was necessary to decide the 125lbs winner, an electrifying way to begin the night. The bout was scoreless through the first round, and Moore didn’t take a 1-0 lead until gaining an escape point after starting on bottom in the second round.
“Something I knew going into this match was he was gonna be hard to finish,” Mauger said. “I struggled a little bit early, I felt overall I did good.”
The score remained 1-0 going into the third round until Mauger got an escape point and another point for a stalling penalty assessed to Moore. The bout went into extra time as Moore earned the riding time point. Mauger got hold of Moore’s leg about a minute into the period and made the takedown for the sudden victory.
133
What looked like one of Mizzou’s toughest hills to climb turned into a pleasant surprise despite a loss. No. 20 Kade Moore lost by a 12-9 decision to No. 1 Lucas Byrd.
“I thought (Kade) had him pinned,” head coach Brian Smith said. “That was a really good showing by Kade after last week getting pinned by the guy.”
Moore held a 7-0 lead to start the bout after coming out on the attack with a successful shot at Byrd’s legs to get a takedown and a near fall. Byrd earned two reversal points to close the first round and carried that momentum into the rest of the match. His ranking showed in his composure to finish out the match, relying on his technique instead of getting frantic.
141
No. 20 Zeke Seltzer lost by a 12-6 decision to No. 15 Danny Pucino. Seltzer held a 6-5 lead through the first two rounds, but Pucino hit on a pair of takedown attempts at Seltzer’s legs, guiding the match to a 7-0 shutout in the third round.
The fakes from Seltzer were not as effective in the final round, and it took too much time for him to get out of Pucino’s holds in the end.
149
Illinois’ ranked wrestler at 149lbs, No. 26 Michael Gioffre, did not compete due to injury. This left No. 14 Josh Edmond with a bout against Will Baysingar.
Edmond took the match by a 6-2 decision after starting slowly. The redshirt senior finally found success in the final two rounds by getting Baysingar off balance and down to the mat. Once Edmond took hold of a 5-2 lead with over 90 seconds left in the bout, he spent time evading Baysingar’s strikes to secure his win.
157
No. 20 J Conway returned to the mat after not competing since the Tiger Style Invite, where he suffered an injury. He faced No. 7 Kannon Webster and lost by a 4-1 decision. Conway didn’t score until earning an escape point starting on the bottom in the third.
Despite some fight from Conway in the final 30 seconds, where he got hold of Webster’s legs, there were few chances for him to get going on the offensive.
165
With No. 16 Max Mayfield out (reason), true freshman Dominic Bambinelli took on No. 8 Braeden Scoles. Bambinelli lost by an 18-4 major decision, getting the score run up on him in the third round. Scoles tallied 13 of his 18 points in the final period.
This was Bambinelli’s first time as an attached wrestler for the Tigers.
174
Much like Bambinelli, Danny Heiser stepped in as a first-time attached wrestler as No. 12 Cam Steed recovers from an undisclosed injury. No. 21 Colin Kelly was the true freshman’s opponent.
Heiser let Kelly grasp his legs multiple times, leading to an 11-2 major decision win for Kelly. The match went from worth three points to four in the final seconds of the bout as Kelly got one final takedown to secure the major victory.
184
No. 2 Aeoden Sinclair earned a crucial six points for Mizzou as he won by medical forfeit against No. 22 Chris Moore. Before Moore’s injury, Sinclair held a 9-2 lead with 30 seconds left in the first round. The redshirt freshman is on a crazy breakout run this season, only losing once earlier in the campaign.
Sinclair’s ability at first contact has been on display this season, and he has unreal speed for his size.
“This week we spent a lot of time clearing collar ties and preaching finishing single legs,” Sinclair said. “For me personally, I think that’s kind of what won me that match.”
197
The team score stood 17-12 Illinois, with No. 17 Evan Bates matching up with unranked Cade Lautt. Bates won by a 14-6 major decision, taking four separate takedowns after getting out to a 7-0 lead in the first two rounds.
“Overall, I’d say I’m pretty happy with how I wrestled,” Bates said. “A little sloppy at the end there, obviously got things to work on.”
Bates went after the tech fall, but instead had some errant shot attempts that resulted in a pair of takedowns for Lautt. His win made the score 17-16 and left the dual outcome on the heavyweight bout.
285
No. 25 Jarrett Stoner suffered a 13-3 major decision loss to No. 9 Luke Luffman in the deciding match. The final tally was not indicative of how close Stoner wrestled Luffman.
The score was 3-2 midway through the second round, and Stoner started taking some risky takedown attempts that didn’t go his way. Stoner was visibly upset on the mat after his loss, but the team outcome wasn’t on him. Multiple close decision losses could’ve gone another way, but this dual showed that the Tigers can compete with the nation’s best.
Much like students at Mizzou, Tiger Style will have a long break before their next competition. They will travel to St. Charles, Missouri, for the Hustle in the Heartland duals Dec. 5 to face Long Island University and No. 6 Nebraska.
